Rocket Fuel
by spacecadet777
Summary: Kylo Ren returns to the bar he got thrown out of to settle the tab. Rated M for swearing and alcohol


Kylo Ren wound up in the same bar that he got thrown out of two nights before. He woke up from his stupor, trained with Snoke (dismally), and wound up at the same bar next to a tattoo parlor, on the same seedy end of town that he was last time.

As he entered the bar,it got quiet. Apparently word got around of his temper because not only did it get quiet, one could hear at least fifteen weapons power up and the either the smarter ones or the ones who had dealt with his tantrums before left the bar in a hurry.

Ren took a seat at the bar where the bartender stood there looking at him. She was tall. She was a woman who ran her bar with an attitude of if you start shit in here you better end it out there or I will end it for you. She, The bartender's name was Rhonda, was at least old enough to be Kylo's mother and was pierced from head to toe. Eyebrows, nose, septum, labret, Monroe, and even some on her cheek next to her eye. Not to mention her ears, nipples and other places She also had tattooed eyebrows, and massive tats running up her arms, legs and everywhere else that she decided to go. She actually had patches where they tattooed regular skin color over an old tattoo so she could get a new design. To say that she was intimidating was an understatement. Nobody messed with her. And she had the balls to kick out Kylo Ren two nights ago.

Three of the older patrons of the bar snickered and Kylo could hear wagers being placed on who was going to be carried out of the bar that night. The odds didn't seem to be in her favor, because one of the old ones mentioned that he was a force user. The other one basically said loud enough for them to hear "Banthashit." "She's got the Force about her too. She just hasn't had to use on your stupid ass yet!" Which caused the trio on the other end of the bar to start loudly laughing.

The bartender grabbed her rag she had been using to wipe the counter off with and slung it over her shoulder. She eyed Ren with a look of what the kriff are you doing back here? She looked him dead in the eye and said "I ain't serving you anything illegal. What'll it be."

"Just a Fizzy." Ren said.

She blinked and looked at him. "Just a Fizzy cola? She said? You sure you don't want any Everclear to go in it?"

"No." he said simply. She got bottle of the soft drink and a cup of ice and placed it infront of him.

"Rocket fuel is illegal on Coruscant. It's also dangerous. We've had people drink that shit and wind up in bodybags. That's why I don't make that drink."

"I could have handled it." Ren said.

"Bullshit!" The bartender said. "You couldn't even handle the drinks you did have and I was serving you just fizzy cola for the last half hour you were here, until that friend of yours came to get you."

"That was no friend," Ren had said.

"Well either way he was able to talk some sense into you and get you out of here. I could also tell you were getting pissed, And I don't take that shit in my bar. You still even look hungover, and that was two nights ago. What the hell brought you back here?"

"I came to settle my tab. I know I forgot to pay for some of the drinks that I had last time."

The bartender waved a hand at him. "Don't worry about that. I can eat the three credits for the soda."

"No", ren said. "There was another bartender. A cute one. One with almost no clothes on. She was the one serving me until...well, I don't know when. She offered to take me back to her place, but I declined."

"Oh, Mereybell. She's the cute one. You must have struck her fancy. She likes them tall. She actually said that she wanted to climb you like a tree. And climb something else if you know what I mean."

"Yeah. her. Where is she?" He asked. Rhonda shook her head. "She's off tonight. She might be at church, she might be at the strip club. One never knows with this child. She's barely legal, just turned legal age two weeks ago, got her bar tending certificate on her birthday and came here for a job. She was cute, and I needed the help. You probably got fubarred because you were staring at her tits. And whatever else she was willing to show you. No wonder I had to call your friend. She shook her head at him. You aren't going to get that way tonight, unless you like em older, pierced and tatted and smart mouthed. I also won't giggle at you every time you speak."

Ren smiled that half smile half smirk that his parent was famous for. He actually liked this woman.

She caught that smirk and said, "Ah, that's it. I knew you looked familiar. And yes, they've even drank at this bar before. You've turned into quite the looker. I would recognize a Solo when I see one, even without the wookie or the lady."

"Lady? You mean my MOTHER?" Kylo asked. This didn't seem like the place where his mother would step foot in let alone drink anything.

"Hells yeah! She and Han came down here all the time when they first moved down here. Right after the rebels blew up the Death Star that the empire was building again. During the work week Your mom would always have virgin drinks, but sometimes she would ask for just a drop. And literally that's what I would give her. just a drop. I think I still even have the eyedropper that I used. Your dad though, wow. But the bigger lush was that wookie. I still don't even think I have anyone who would drink as much in one sitting as him."

"There was one time before she found out that she was pregnant with you that she even drank your dad under the table and out cursed a Meyerbeer of the Guavian Death Gang! Damn, she had a mouth on her. I wonder if she is still as snarky." Rhonda mused.

"Yeah. She can still out swear even me. One time we were texting each other and I said something stupid and she blew up my comm with swear words, in all caps and some I didn't even know. I don't want to ever get into a swearing contest with my mom. She can even make Chewbacca blush. Have you ever seen a wookie blush?"

Rhonda looked at him and knew that this man before her wasn't the monster that everyone claimed him to be. The light was still there. He was letting it shine before her, even though he would never admit it.

"Ok, Mr. Solo, I will consider the other night settled if you tell me one little thing."

"What?"

"What brought you into my bar to drown your sorrows that night. I'm sure you had a night or two to think about this. What's the problem that you had that you had to come here and drink yourself into almost oblivion?"

Kylo looked down at his drink he watched the bubbles come up to the top of the drink and pop, only to be replaced by new ones. He didn't want to relive Starkiller. He didn't want to bring that back up. But, at the same time, as the bartender knew, talking about it would do him some good.

'Well?" Rhonda looked at him expectantly. "Do I have to drag it out of you? Or do you want me to guess?"

He looked up at her, sighed, and said "guess."

"I think, hmm. I think that you lost either something or someone. And by judging by that line across your face, you lost your man card in the process. I heard about Starkiller. I heard that Han Solo bit the dust there too. And the rumor is that you killed him."

His brow furled and he began to look pissed. "Hold your horses, Rhonda said. You don't know what else I heard. I also heard that there's extenuating circumstances. Chewie came in not long after and told me all about it. I also have my ways of knowing."

"She beat me." Ren lamented

"She beat you good. She beat you twice. She's the one holding your man card. And you're smarting. You can't be the evil guy that Snoke wants you to be, and you don't want to seek her right now and let her drag out your light."

The bartender was right. And Kylo Ren knew it.

"The problem with Snoke is that he doesn't know about the Ben Solo that's below the Kylo Ren. The Ben Solo that's had time to analyze the shit that's been going down and make the decision to leave. The Ben Solo I know that's in there. The one that knows that he's done some awful hateful shit and is ready to atone for it, he's ready to close that chapter of his life and begin again."

"So how do I do it?" Ren asked.

"How the kriffin hell do I know? What do you think I am, a member of the Jedi Council? You dug the hole. Now you gotta get out of it. Do you want a rope or a shovel? A rope can break. But with a shovel you can fill the hole while you get out of it."

"All I know is this. When you finally break free, you're gonna deal with a lot of banthashit from a never ending supply of stupid. Do you think you can handle the stares, comments and snickers without going full out Kylo Ren and having a temper tantrum? If you say yes, then go claim your man card, and marry that sweet girl holding it."

He had never given any thought to the idea that Rey could eventually become his wife. That wasn't going to be an easy task, considering both of their pasts, and the fact he really didn't know where she was at the moment. He did start to feel a presence though. Kind of like an afterthought, like a mysterious touch in the back of his mind. Feather light this touch was, and alluring. Every once in a while this presence would float almost to the center of his conscious and beckon to him. He didn't understand that this was Rey. Not a ominous presence, sometimes it was like a breeze. If Ren was to meditate on it, then it would make itself known,but, would shy away the second anything dark was mentioned.

Rhonda had turned around, and was talking with another patron at her bar when Kylo blinked. He looked around at the patrons of the bar. There were three over in the corner that were talking before, that were now talking about the spring baseball teams and how the Cubbies were going to be almost unstoppable now that they have finally won the Universal Series last fall. He listened to that conversation for awhile and the presence made itself known. It had the power to make him more intoxicated than any liquor. No wonder he didn't want to consume any alcohol. He didn't want to full on search for her presence, but the fact that she was there was enough. He thought that he had better find a way to keep that from Snoke, and quick. The thought then came to him that it was time to finally stop. Finally stop the temper tantrums. Kylo Ren would never call them that, but when you got down to it, that just what they were. He looked again at the bubbles coming up in the drink before him that was halfway gone and as he added more to his glass from the bottle the thought occurred to him that if he were to ask, he might actually get forgiveness. He knew that the things he did would never be forgotten, but, at least he could close the door on that chapter of his life. That presence was revealing itself as he looked at the patrons of the bar. The old trio that was on the other side of the bar, now settling their bets with one another, were preparing to leave. The woman that was with the other two men came over to him.

"Your thoughts are betraying you, Ben Solo. You are not the dark one you claim to be."

"How would you know?"

"I've watched you grow up. All the way until you left your parents. I was the secretary at the school you went to, I've seen you. I even transferred schools when you started high school. Your parents weren't and still aren't perfect. There will never be any parent of the year plaques on their walls. But they love you. Your mother misses you so. I would if my child were struggling with the dark. You need to go to her. And it doesn't have to be a formal meeting. A passing glance at Walmart will do. Give her the chance to get to know the man that you are trying to become. You've got her number in your comm, text her."

the woman's husband came up to her and helped her put on her jacket. She put a hand on Kylo's shoulder and told him "Don't go to your bed tonight until you have texted her at least the word hi. Make the start." "Oh, yes, there is something else you should know. Snoke tried to influence you in school ever since you let the bunnies out of their cage, when you were in kindergarten. I found the white one when she hopped into the office and I knew it. I'm the one that stopped him. I'm the one that stopped the fights from becoming worse than they have. You came so damn close to getting kicked out of that school, but I was the one who stopped it. Make me proud again." With that she left the bar for the night.

He watched her as she left and for several minutes after they had all gone home for the night he just stared at the door. He took another long draw from the Fizzy and realized that he had been lied to. Just like someone had told him during the trip to Coruscant. His grandfather had found a way to finally get through to him and had made the point. But that is a story for another time.

He finished the soda, and left the bar with his questions answered and a clearer head. The only questions now were when and where. He knew that this was not going to be easy, but, as he entered the lobby of the hotel, he realized he could do it.


End file.
